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Tara runs an eight-person travel agency that evolved from Disney bookings into high-touch, custom FIT itineraries, but her technology never caught up. After nine years on VCRM, her clients were forced to bounce between VCRM, Travefy, and AXUS, creating constant questions, duplicate work, and commission processing that took up to eight hours at a time. In April 2024, she made the switch to Tern, not because the product was perfect, but because she trusted the team and the long-term vision. Today, her clients have a single secure login for payments, itineraries, and documents, her full nine-year data archive is accessible, and commission processing is finally manageable. This case study shows what happens when an established VCRM agency chooses consolidation, clarity, and partnership over staying stuck with fragmented systems.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·1/24/2026·Case Study

Jennifer Davis, founder of Sweetbay Travel Concierge, was managing 16 independent contractors across six states while juggling two outdated systems that slowed her team and confused clients. By replacing Tess and Travefy with Tern, she brought client portals, itineraries, workflows, and commission tracking into one collaborative platform. The result was faster quoting, hundreds of reusable templates, happier advisors, and a healthier work life balance. Even after losing three agents to life changes, Sweetbay Travel Concierge grew revenue by $500K year over year, proving that simplifying operations can directly fuel growth.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·1/24/2026·Case Study

Brandyn Harris runs Travigent, a Japan focused FIT agency managing multiple advisors and three different host agencies, all while juggling TravelJoy and Travefy to keep operations moving. The fragmented setup meant duplicate work, poor visibility into commissions, and administrative tasks consuming nearly half his week. After switching to Tern, Brandyn discovered several thousand dollars in previously unclaimed commissions and reduced admin time from 50% to just 10%. With integrated payments, itineraries, commission tracking, and shared templates, Travigent now operates from a single system that supports scale, protects revenue, and frees up time to focus on planning complex trips instead of managing spreadsheets.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·1/24/2026·Case Study

Quote travel insurance in seconds using trip data already in Tern. Arch RoamRight integration is live now, with 4% bonus commission starting Feb 1 through April 30.

David Shull ·1/23/2026·Blog Post

Automations now send to each traveler individually - so first name variables always work - and agency payouts are more accurate, transparent, and effortless to manage.

Updates include new payout reporting, time zone updates, rich text editor for cancellation policies, and more!

After eight years on a stagnant platform, Kristi Peek was running an $8M agency across four disconnected systems just to keep day-to-day operations moving. Product updates never came, support was nonexistent, and every workflow depended on manual workarounds. In this case study, see how Embrace the Journey Travel made the switch from TESS to Tern, migrating more than 28,000 records including years of commission data, consolidating bookings, CRM, itineraries, and client communication into one system, and giving a 22-person team a foundation built for long-term growth instead of continued patchwork fixes.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·1/13/2026·Case Study

A host agency owner managing 23 ICs replaced six commission spreadsheets with a single system—and turned commission runs from hours of reconciliation into a few clicks. Robin runs a cruise-focused host agency with 23 independent contractors. Before Tern, managing commissions meant juggling six Excel workbooks, double-entering trips across multiple systems, and manually generating PDFs every pay period. The process was time-consuming, error-prone, and stressful—for both Robin and her advisors. In this case study, you’ll see how Robin consolidated booking, itineraries, payments, and commission tracking into one unified platform with Tern. By eliminating double data entry and centralizing commission logic, she transformed commission runs from an hours-long chore into a simple “click, click, done” workflow. ICs gained real-time visibility into their commissions, year-end reporting became effortless, and even the most skeptical advisors ultimately adopted the system. Beyond operational efficiency, Tern helped Robin elevate her agency. Advisors now use professional client-facing tools, onboarding is simpler for new ICs, and Robin spends less time buried in admin and more time coaching, mentoring, and growing the business. This case study shows what’s possible when commission tracking stops living in spreadsheets—and starts supporting real agency leadership. Robin runs a cruise-focused host agency with 23 independent contractors. Before Tern, managing commissions meant juggling six Excel workbooks, double-entering trips across multiple systems, and manually generating PDFs every pay period. The process was time-consuming, error-prone, and stressful—for both Robin and her advisors. In this case study, you’ll see how Robin consolidated booking, itineraries, payments, and commission tracking into one unified platform with Tern. By eliminating double data entry and centralizing commission logic, she transformed commission runs from an hours-long chore into a simple “click, click, done” workflow. ICs gained real-time visibility into their commissions, year-end reporting became effortless, and even the most skeptical advisors ultimately adopted the system. Beyond operational efficiency, Tern helped Robin elevate her agency. Advisors now use professional client-facing tools, onboarding is simpler for new ICs, and Robin spends less time buried in admin and more time coaching, mentoring, and growing the business. This case study shows what’s possible when commission tracking stops living in spreadsheets—and starts supporting real agency leadership.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·1/8/2026·Case Study

Whether you’re just getting started or actively scaling, these resources and best practices are focused on helping you lead more intentionally, support your advisors more effectively, and use Tern to grow your business. Data-Driven Agency Growth in Tern is a practical, leadership-focused playbook for travel agency owners who want to grow with clarity, not chaos. This guide goes beyond surface-level metrics to show how agency-level reporting, commission tracking, and trends can become part of your everyday decision-making rhythm. Designed for both new and scaling agency owners, the playbook walks through how to use Tern to understand what’s really happening in your business, support advisors more effectively, and make confident decisions based on patterns—not one-off bookings. Packed with best practices and real-world insights from experienced agency owners, this guide helps you stop managing tasks and start leading a business built to scale. Whether you’re laying your foundation or leveling up an existing agency, this playbook shows how to use Tern not just as a tool—but as a strategic advantage for sustainable, long-term growth. Data-Driven Agency Growth in Tern is a practical, leadership-focused playbook for travel agency owners who want to grow with clarity, not chaos. This guide goes beyond surface-level metrics to show how agency-level reporting, commission tracking, and trends can become part of your everyday decision-making rhythm. Designed for both new and scaling agency owners, the playbook walks through how to use Tern to understand what’s really happening in your business, support advisors more effectively, and make confident decisions based on patterns—not one-off bookings. Packed with best practices and real-world insights from experienced agency owners, this guide helps you stop managing tasks and start leading a business built to scale. Whether you’re laying your foundation or leveling up an existing agency, this playbook shows how to use Tern not just as a tool—but as a strategic advantage for sustainable, long-term growth.

This week's update gives you a lightning round webinar recap, plus hot off the press quality of life improvements!

As a travel agency owner managing independent contractors, Kari was responsible not only for her own clients but also for making sure nothing slipped through the cracks across her team. Deadlines, payments, insurance reminders, and follow-ups lived in sticky notes, spreadsheets, and constant mental checklists. This case study shows how Kari used Tern’s automations to bring structure and consistency to her agency operations. By automating trip milestones, payment requests, and client communications, she removed the need for manual tracking and created workflows she and her independent contractors could reliably follow. The result is fewer sticky notes, less stress, and a more professional experience for both her team and her clients. As a travel agency owner managing independent contractors, Kari was responsible not only for her own clients but also for making sure nothing slipped through the cracks across her team. Deadlines, payments, insurance reminders, and follow-ups lived in sticky notes, spreadsheets, and constant mental checklists. This case study shows how Kari used Tern’s automations to bring structure and consistency to her agency operations. By automating trip milestones, payment requests, and client communications, she removed the need for manual tracking and created workflows she and her independent contractors could reliably follow. In this case study, you’ll see how Kari uses Tern to: Automate reminders and follow-ups across multiple advisors Standardize payment authorizations and terms acceptance for clients Create consistent client communication using shared templates Qualify leads and protect advisor time with intake forms and scheduling tools Manage trips, payments, and commissions in one centralized dashboard The result is fewer sticky notes, less stress, and a more professional experience for both her team and her clients. This case study offers a real-world look at how agency owners use automation software to support independent contractors, reduce operational risk, and run their agency with confidence. As a travel agency owner managing independent contractors, Kari was responsible not only for her own clients but also for making sure nothing slipped through the cracks across her team. Deadlines, payments, insurance reminders, and follow-ups lived in sticky notes, spreadsheets, and constant mental checklists. This case study shows how Kari used Tern’s automations to bring structure and consistency to her agency operations. By automating trip milestones, payment requests, and client communications, she removed the need for manual tracking and created workflows she and her independent contractors could reliably follow. In this case study, you’ll see how Kari uses Tern to: Automate reminders and follow-ups across multiple advisors Standardize payment authorizations and terms acceptance for clients Create consistent client communication using shared templates Qualify leads and protect advisor time with intake forms and scheduling tools Manage trips, payments, and commissions in one centralized dashboard The result is fewer sticky notes, less stress, and a more professional experience for both her team and her clients. This case study offers a real-world look at how agency owners use automation software to support independent contractors, reduce operational risk, and run their agency with confidence.

David Shull ·12/19/2025·Case Study

Lauren, the founder of Modern Travel, was running a 22-advisor agency under Canada’s strict TICO compliance requirements—while juggling four tools, manual invoices, and hours-long monthly payout processes. Compliance was stressful, payouts were slow, and scaling felt impossible without adding more operational overhead. In this case study, Lauren shares how she rebuilt her agency’s back office using Tern as a single, organized system. By setting up standardized invoice templates for TICO compliance, centralizing commission tracking, and leveraging Tern’s shared library, she transformed payouts into an eight-minute process and gave every advisor a consistent, compliant foundation from day one. The result was more than operational efficiency. With admin removed from daily workflows, advisors focused on selling, mentoring improved, and Modern Travel achieved 433% year-over-year growth in just one year. This case study breaks down Lauren’s exact approach to building a “business in a box”—showing how the right systems can support rapid growth without sacrificing compliance, accuracy, or control.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·12/17/2025·Case Study

Tern’s Winter Launch introduces booking inside the platform for the first time, along with major upgrades to photos, AI, trip building, and agency tools. This release removes more manual work than ever and marks the beginning of a new, faster, fully connected era for travel advisors using Tern.

Grace Van Hollebeke ·12/15/2025·Product Update

Updates this week include option block selection, total per room pricing, and more!

This week’s updates introduce flexible agency-managed contact ownership, a new 'non-commissionable' sales filter for cleaner reporting, and more.

The big update this week is that if you're using AI Assist to import content into Tern, it will now select from verified properties in Tern's database - pulling in hotel details and photos automatically!

This weeks update includes our first feature of many for our new Project Expedition partnership, major upgrades to reporting, and more!

Easily look up trips and contacts from anywhere, a much-needed clean up to traveler-facing preferences and interests, additional dashboard metrics, and more.

This week, we launched the new Agency Dashboard and Agent Payout Emails, giving agencies clearer insights, smoother payouts, and a more polished experience across Tern.

The highlight this week is a big upgrade to how your itineraries look when you export them as a PDF!

This week's updates include folders for your Workflows, custom deposit amounts per room type, auto-logging of all documents in your main trip view, and more!

Updates this week include support to move older trips over to our new payments model, itinerary template folders, and previewing room cost on signup even when dates are flexible!

This week's update starts with hot off the press changes, and ends with a recap of webinar features you might have missed.

Tern’s Fall Reveal introduced the biggest upgrades yet for travel advisors, including smarter payment controls, a best-in-class mobile experience, a powerful new dashboard, and built-in business intelligence. The event also highlighted dozens of community-driven features from our Hackathon, proving Tern is listening and shipping faster than ever.

David Shull ·9/18/2025·Product Update